Pacific Views: Black Power Afterlives

Like today’s Movement for Black Lives, the 1960s Black Power movement was a critical moment when radical ideas suddenly took hold and unprecedented opportunities emerged for transformational change. While today’s activists look to the Black Panther Party for inspiration and lessons, the focus is almost entirely on the BPP during the organization’s existence.  But in the intervening 38 years since the Party ended, how has the BPP continued to shape the movements for Black survival and Black liberation?  What does the study of the afterlife of the BPP teach us about unexpected sites of struggle that inform academic knowledge and political organizing today?

Diane Fujino and Matef Harmachis draw from their new book, Black Power Afterlives, to discuss the multifaceted arenas in which Black Panther activism continues on.

Diane C. Fujino is professor of Asian American Studies and author of several books on Asian American activism and Afro-Asian radicalism.  Matef Harmachis taught high school social science for many years.  They are both active with Ethnic Studies Now! Santa Barbara and Cooperation Santa Barbara.